Chapter 28 Ending: A rewrite
by Chaos Child of Power
Summary: ONESHOT. After Chapter 28 I felt a change was needed in that it was time that Gilford the tactician to speak out. It's not much but I worked at this one.


The deed had been done. Nergal had deceived them all into thinking that that was a true dragon. However it was really Ninian, in her true form. Nergal was gone, and all of the crew had been sad. But none of them were sadder than Eliwood… or so they thought…

Gilford, the tactician, was completely devastated by this turn of events. He approached Ninian and Eliwood. She was already dead, and Eliwood was weeping.

"Eliwood…" Gilford says. "Please hand her to me. I wish to say goodbye. I realize this is hard…"

Eliwood hands her to him, and Gilford is on the verge of tears, which is unusual for him. "Ninian…"

He bursts into tears. "Ninian… I love you. I have loved you since the moment I saw you, the minute Eliwood brought you from the Fang's grasp, I knew that I loved you. I knew you were destined for Eliwood, but my love for you remained strong. Now… not even I know what to do… you were the whole reason I continued to be a tactician, knowing I was protecting you… but it wasn't good enough."

Gilford begins sobbing even harder. "You were so innocent… yet you were afraid to show us who you really were. If I had known you were a dragon I would have loved you just the same. Ninian, no matter what, I will long to be with you…"

He gives Ninian back to Eliwood and turns to Jaffar. "Angel of Death. Please, I implore you. Take my life. I wish to join her on the other side."

Jaffar stands motionless.

"What are you waiting for, Jaffar! Take my life now!"

"…I won't do it." He says to Gilford.

"I command you, as your tactician I make one last order. And that is to…"

"STOP IT!!!" Lyn interjects. "Gilford, we all loved Ninian. Even I did. She was like a sister to me. I feel your pain…"

"No you don't!" Gilford screams through his tears. "No one feels the pain I have felt. None of you have lost the only important person in their lives!"

"That's not true." Eliwood says. "You were there when my father was slain by Nergal. You would know my sorrow."

"And I lost my mother and father, too." Lyn utters.

"Me, too." Tells Nino, from behind Jaffar. "And the worst part about it was that I was tricked into helping those who killed my parents."

"Guys…" Gilford whispers.

"… and I did too." Jaffar confesses. "I, too, was tricked by the Black Fang. But now is the time… the time for vengeance is upon us."

"If we seek revenge, we sink to their level" Says Lucius. "We must remember the true reason we are out to get Nergal. We are out to save our world." He turns to Gilford. "Saint Elimine, please help soothe Gilford's soul."

"Thank you, Lucius…"

"We must remember, there is another who feels even more sorrow than you do now." Oswin points out as he turns to Nils.

"Oh my, I totally forgot… I'm so sorry…" Gilford begins to feel guilty as he rushes over to him. "Nils…"

"How could this happen…" he whispers. "I can't believe it… I won't believe it."

Nils rushes to Ninian, who is still in Eliwood's arms. "Please open your eyes, Ninian! Ninian, please, wake up!"

He takes Ninian's hands and attempts to transfer his own life energy into her, as he had before, so much so that he weakens himself severely, so much so that Serra must intervene with her staff afterwards, but to no avail. Ninian was still dead.

"I wish that my staff could mend a broken heart. So many here could use that." She says.

Even General Wallace, who is usually distant, runs (as fast as he possibly can, because of his heavy armor) over to Nils. "Kid, I'm right here. If you need anything, I'm right here. Your eyes reflect the sorrow in your heart. The same sorrow I felt I would have had Lyndis's Legion not stopped Lord Lungdren in his tracks. Lyn would have had the same sorrow, too. And you helped her to save her grandfather. So, too, did she."

Legault, Guy and Matthew approached them. "We're here, too." Says Guy.

Priscilla, Erk, Hawkeye, Pent, and Louise all were at a loss for words. Louise was crying uncontrollably into Pent's shoulder, while Pent was trying to comfort his beloved. Erk and Priscilla were crying together as well. Even Hawkeye, who seemed very tough, was moved enough to cry.

Hector, usually very unfeeling, was even beginning to cry. He approached Lyn, who embraced him and they cried together.

Harken hated seeing his best friend's son in tears, and he approached him to comfort him, though he still clung to Ninian. "It's time, Eliwood. We cannot waste too much time. We need to defeat Nergal."

"I agree." Dart says. "That Nergal needs a serious attitude adjustment"

Florina interjects. "Umm… I think we should let them mourn it out. Do you think that they will be a hundred percent on the battlefield if we don't? I know I wouldn't"

"Sorry, Dart," Farina says. "But I'm with her on this. And I'm nice enough not to charge them for this one."

Gilford is still crying off to the side, when he hears a voice…

"I love you, too, Gilford…"

He turns around, only to find that everyone is gathered around Nils.

"I must be imagining things."

"I hate to cut this short, but I believe that Dart and Harken have a point." Marcus tells them. "It is best that we keep moving."

"I agree with them." Vaida says. "Let's get a move on. Nergal's not gonna defeat himself, you know."

Gilford stands up, wipes his eyes, and says. "It is time. Let us continue. Ninian was a valuable asset to this team, but now we must press onward. It is our duty to this world to save it from Nergal's wrath. And they're right, he's not gonna defeat himself. Let's go."

As he looks back at Ninian, Gilford swears he saw her wink at him.

"It's kinda funny, really." Nils tells Gilford.

"What is, Nils?" Gilford asks him.

"It feels like she'll be back someday."


End file.
